


Behind the scenes

by Noctugna



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Soft Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, This was supposed to be funny but then Remus decided it was Gay Yearning Hours and it got Soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:01:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24670465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noctugna/pseuds/Noctugna
Summary: Remus finds Virgil crying and, against his better judgement, decides to help him calm down.Or: What Virgil and Remus were doing during Putting Others First (Featuring: Remus being surprisingly soft, Logan worrying about his friends and Virgil being an anxious idiot)
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, if you squint
Comments: 13
Kudos: 180





	Behind the scenes

Remus usually didn't like to venture out of his room and into the commons, since doing that usually ended with a lot of screaming from Virgil or Patton and with Roman trying to gouge his eyes out with his katana. (And that, while fun at the beginning, grew tiresome after a while)

His room was much more interesting anyways.

But filming days were always the exception to the rule, since the other sides were all in their rooms waiting to either be summoned or butt in (Ha. _Butt_ ) when they deemed it necessary, the commons were left empty, and that meant he had free reign to go into the common’s kitchen and stuff his face with Patton’s homemade chocolate chip cookies to his heart’s content without anyone to screech in fright the moment they caught sight of him. 

He left his room happily, quietly humming a song from Beetlejuice, but stopping dead in his tracks the moment he reached the commons and was greeted with the sight of the anxious side curled up on the floor beside the couch. 

Under normal circumstances, this is the moment where he would leave. Turn around before he was spotted and try again later, but a closer inspection told him that Virgil was shaking and, if his irregular breathing was anything to go by, probably crying.

Now, while he didnt care about Virgil anymore on account of the anxious side abandoning them and the fact that apparently whatever friendship they once may have had had been a lie on the anxious side part, in all the years of knowing him, Remus had never seen Virgil look quite so…

Pitiful? Broken?

Small. He settled for small. He had never seen Virgil look so small before.

But he should leave. Surely his presence would only make whatever this was worse and-

Virgil’s breath hitched and now Remus could clearly make out the sound of him sobbing and _god fucking damn it._

He wanted to help Virgil.

“Virgil? Are you uh, okay there?” Remus asked nervously and ,upon hearing his voice, Virgil startled and proceeded to cry louder. 

Fuck, Remus wasn't equipped for this. 

“Should I, erg, go fetch Patton or something?” Remus asked, making a vague gesture with his hand that he was sure Virgil couldn't see. Now, _that_ question did get a reaction out of him.

“ **NO!** ” Virgil yelled in that particularly demonic voice of his while snapping his head up to look at him. Huh. _Interesting_ , the mere mention of Patton had Virgil’s eyes widening in panic and fear, his breath quickening and his shaking worsening.

Now, Remus didn’t have the time to unpack all of that so he decided to just throw away the whole suitcase and try a different approach.

“Okay. No Patton. Got it.” He said, nodding to himself and he saw Virgil relax just the tiniest bit, still looking at him warily with tears still falling freely, his cheeks stained black from his ruined eyeshadow.

“What do you want, Remus?” Virgil asked, now in his normal voice, if a quite a lot more shakier than it should be.

“Well, originally, I wanted to steal some of Patton’s cookies. Now, however, I want to know what the fuck happened that left you-”He made a vague gesture that encompassed Virgil as a whole-“Like this.”

Virgil smiled ruefully and then simply said:

“Thomas knows.”

Oh fuck. Oh god fucking shit. He really, _really_ wasn't equipped for this.

“What the fuck. You _told him_? Like, _now_?” He asked, trying very hard not to panic himself.

Virgil looked at him curiously while he tried to wipe his tears away.

“I thought you-Nevermind. No, I told him after you decided to introduce yourself to him.”

“That was a month ago.” He stated dumbly, the _Why are you panicking now then?_ left unasked.

“Yeah. I think Thomas took it well enough. He didn’t seem to hate me. I think it's just taking a while to process.”

“Congratulations! What's the fucking issue then?” He asked, still not getting what the problem was

“Did you notice that he avoided me like the plague since I told him? And that today is the first time he summons any of us for any sort of serious discussion since then?”

“Yeah, and?”

“I think he wants to tell the others about me, to see what he should do.” 

Oh shit. Fuck. Okay, no, he definitely wasn't equipped to deal with any of this bullshit. He was, quite literally, the least tactful side out of all of them and this conversation felt too much like trying to disable a ticking bomb that was about to explode at the minimal error. He didn't have enough brain cells to deal with this shit alone and-

Wait. Brain cells. Logan

Logan could help. He was the literal voice of reason and was smart enough to already know, or at the very least suspect, that Virgil had been once one of them, so telling him about this entire not-fun mess so he could help calm Virgil the fuck down wouldn't make things worse. Yeah, that seemed reasonable. He’d go get Logan.

Remus made a gesture and summoned a box of tissues (It was a little damaged on the exterior but the tissues were usable, thank fuck) and he threw it at Virgil’s lap, who looked at him like he had grown a second head, although that would probably have been less surprising.

“Okay. Stay here. I’ll be right back.” Remus informed Virgil as calmly as he could and then immediately broke into a dead sprint towards Logan’s room.

Upon arriving, he knocked on the door rather loudly and after the door opened he was greeted by a surprised, if mildly annoyed, logical side.

“Remus? May I inquire what you are doing here? Deceit has just severed my connection to the others and while I doubt he means harm I must get back to them before-”

“Virgil is having a mental breakdown in the commons.” Remus interrupted and Logan immediately shut up.

“I beg your pardon?”

“He thinks that Thomas is going to discuss with you three what to do about him now that Thomas knows he was one of us before.” He summarized. Logan blinked.

“Oh dear, Thomas knows? Nevermind that, you can inform him that that is not why we were summoned, Thomas was upset and confused after the wedding disaster and he wanted to talk to Roman and Patton about it. He has no reason to fear. Speaking of which, I should really get back to-”

“Absolutely not. You tell him that” Remus ordered while he grabbed Logan by the wrist and started walking to the commons.

“Let go of me! If he becomes aware that I knew he will- Remus! I am busy at the moment!” Logan argued while he fruitlessly tried to wiggle free out of Remus’ iron grip

“Nope. You are his friend. You are coming with me to deal with this and that is final.” 

“Remus!”

The duke continued to drag Logan to the commons and once there, he shoved him into Virgil’s lap, who froze like a deer caught in headlights the moment he saw Logan.

“You two talk while I go make some tea.” He decided, remembering how Janus had nothing short of chugged an entire kettle of Chamomile after the whole courtroom fiasco to calm himself down, and deciding a cup of it might help Virgil now.

He went to the kitchen and decided to put some water to boil instead of summoning the cups, since A) He always had trouble summoning things that weren’t dirty, broken and/or cursed and B) He thought it might be better to give the other two some time and space so they could talk in peace. He watched them talk from beside the stove and while he couldn't hear what they were saying, he could see Virgil slumping in relief and then give Logan the tiniest of smiles.

As he watched quietly from afar how Logan tenderly helped wipe the ruined eyeshadow out of Virgil’s face while he seemed to say something that made the anxious side laugh softly, Remus couldn’t help the weird feeling that settled into his chest, a dull ache that left him feeling more alone than he had felt in a long while and left him yearning for something he couldn't quite name.

He shook his head, trying to physically get rid of those weird mushy sad feelings, and went to look for some cups and the teabag. He found them just as the kettle started to whistle, so he dropped the tea bag into the boiling water and while he waited for the tea to be ready he went to look for spoons and some sugar. Once he had them in hand he realized he didn't actually know how sweet did either of the other two like their tea so he decided to just take it to the living room and let the others decide for themselves.

He checked to see if the other two were still talking and ,upon seeing that they had moved from the floor to the couch and that Virgil was quietly curled up beside Logan, he had to squash that feeling again. He turned and balanced the cups and spoons into one hand while he held the sugar in the other while mindlessly grabbing the kettle with one of his tentacles. Just before stepping out of the kitchen he saw the cookie jar and on a whim decided to grab that too. 

Logan looked up from the couch and blinked, looking at Remus a bit surprised and it was then that he realized that it was the first time any of the others saw him use his tentacles. Ah, well, it was Logan. He had seen him do weirder stuff. 

“I made Chamomile, Deceit says it has calming properties or some shit.” He informed them while he placed the three cups and sugar jar into the coffee table.

“That was very thoughtful and kind of you, Remus.” Logan acknowledged.

Remus visibly brightened at the praise, one of his tentacles carefully pouring the tea into the cups while the other popped the cookie jar open and left it in the table without him needed to look at them. 

“Gross. Why can’t you just use extra hands like a normal side?” Virgil asked looking disgusted by the entire thing.

“Simple: Aesthetic” Remus replied with a smile.

“I still hate them with a passion” Virgil said while gesturing to the tentacles with his spoon “But I can respect that.” He conceded.

“Ah, excuse me, but before I can settle down to uh, chill?” Logan paused while looking at Virgil ,who just nodded, before he continued “I must go back to check on the others and make sure they dont require my assistance anymore.”

Logan got up from the sofa and sank out, leaving Remus and Virgil alone.

Remus sat as far away from Virgil as the couch would allow while silently taking sips of his tea and eating cookies, trying to force himself to shut up as to not break the frail and unspoken truce that hung in the air between him and the emo. Oddly enough, in the end, it was Virgil who broke the silence.

“Why did you do it?” Virgil asked Remus without lifting his gaze from his teacup.

“I already told you, Janus says it has some sort of-”

“No! Not the tea, you idiot!” Virgil interrupted Remus, trying his best to suppress a smile. “Why did you...help me?” He asked, now looking at the duke, his expression and his voice guarded. 

“You know there is no rime or reason to what I do, I just do.”

“Remus. Please.”

“I-Listen.” Remus took a deep sigh. “I know you hate my guts and that our relationship was never quite the best, but-”

“Understatement of the century.”

“But!” He continued, “Before you left I…”

Remus paused and then, hesitantly, he said “Even if I have never been able to express it as effusively or clearly like, say, Patton might, I thought of you as a friend.” A pause. Then, more quietly, as he took another sip of tea. “A dear one at that.”

Virgil’s glare immediately softened.

“Remus, I-” Virgil started but was interrupted by Logan popping back up.

The logical side took one deep breath and then proceeded to grab his cup from the table and take a big gulp with the expression of a man who probably wished it’s contents were something a lot more stronger than tea. Remus could relate. 

They watched in silent bewilderment as the usually very composed side carelessly left his cup in the table before letting himself fall onto the couch between Remus and Virgil. Logan sighed again and rubbed at his eyes behind his glasses in a blatant act of frustration.

“It is the furthest thing from my intention to come off as dramatic, but I swear if Roman and Patton do not calm down soon and start to actually listen to others then I will be forced to commit arson.” 

“Neat! I’ll gladly help you set things on fire, Logan”

“No one its setting anything on fire, Remus.” Virgil interjected “What happened?”

“Deceit and I made some, I would say, valid arguments and gave a reasonably good advice on how to handle Thomas’ new emotional crisis and they proceeded to ignore it until the problem blew up in their faces it, but what else is new?”He said, his hands still covering his eyes behind his glasses. He paused for a second “Well, at least Patton seemed to have had seen sense when I left so I’d say its progress.”

“Uh, hold up, go back a little bit: You sided with Deceit on an argument?” Virgil asked looking at Logan like he had gone insane.

“We merely suggested that Thomas should actually put himself first for once in his life and stop neglecting his mental health so much, even if that means to be selfish from time to time” Logan explained as calmly as he could.

“How could you think that-” Virgil began before the other cut him off.

“I am not going to start arguing about this with you too, Virgil. If you wanted to give your opinions on this matter so desperately, you should have done your job and showed up.”Logan snapped.

Silence. Logan’s face looked like he regretted those words the moment they left his mouth and Virgil looked like he had been punched.

“Yikes.”Remus said eloquently. “Does anyone want a cookie?” He offered while shaking the cookie jar and that seemed to break the tension that hung in the air. Virgil bit back a laugh at the stupidity of the situation and Logan’s lip quirked upwards in the barest hint of a smile.

“You know what? Yeah, I want one, pass the jar, Duke” Virgil said.

“That is very kind of you, Remus, but I believe I will pass for the time being, thank you.” Logan politely declined.

“Suit yourself.” Remus replied while he threw Virgil the cookie jar, who catched it with minimal fumbling. “I don’t like to insert myself in conversations that clearly are none of my business but-”

“Since when?”

“Shut the fuck up. As I was saying, but before coming here I saw Deceit before he left to join the discussion and he said he was, and I am quoting, going to get this bitch some self-care if it is the last thing he does, so I personally think that the chances of this being a super evil secret plot to ruin Thomas’ life are rather low, emo” He explained.

“Ah, while that is a crude way to put it, it still summarizes our intentions: We just wanted to, uh, get this bitch some self-care.” Logan said awkwardly.

“I-” Virgil sighed. “I don’t trust Deceit and I don’t think that he is honestly doing this out of the goodness of his heart, but I do trust you, Logan, so if you think that Thomas should take more care of himself, then I will not argue.” He said, resigned.

“That's…”Logan paused, looking a bit touched. “Very mature of you, Virgil. Thank you” He finished lamely.

“Besides, you were right, if I wanted to give my opinion on this I should have shown up.” Virgil shrugged. 

Logan looked like he wanted to argue and probably apologize about saying that when Roman popped up, looking incredibly distressed. And, upon seeing Remus sitting on the couch with the others, his expression soured even more.

“How many times do I have to chase you out of the commons before you get it? Your kind is not allowed here.” Roman said while he summoned his sword. Virgil visibly cringed at Roman’s phrasing. 

Remus was about to put his cup down, summon his morning star and knock a bitch out so he could finish his tea in peace, when Logan got up and put himself between them.

“It’s okay Roman, he is not up to any nefarious acts, we were merely having tea together.” Logan explained, moving his hands in a placating manner as if to gently coarse Roman into lowering his sword. The Prince’s grip around his katana tightened.

“Why would you even want to have tea with this-this evil and deranged-”Roman started but Virgil cut him off.

“Roman, that's enough. He saw me being very, uh, lets say, _distressed_ about something and wanted to help, that's why he is here”

Something in Roman's eyes changed after he heard what his brother did. 

He helped Virgil. Of course he did. Roman was laughing at someone’s name while his brother helped his friend calm down.

The prince’s expression quickly morphed from rage to an empty and defeated look that had no place in Roman’s face. He looked completely exhausted. 

“I-Of course, _of course_ you’d defend him. Of course I am the evil twin.” He sighed, visibly deflating. Remus looked at Roman confused. What the _fuck_ was that about? Why was everyone so emotional today?

“Uh-what do you mean you are the evil twin? Roman?” Virgil asked, looking at the prince with clear worry written across his face.

Roman decided to ignore that question and just made his katana disappear before dragging his hands across his face and giving a long and tired sigh. He stared numbly at them for a minute before turning and walking towards the hallway. “I’m going to my room, please do not disturb me unless it is an emergency.” He stated, his voice shaking slightly.

“Wait, Roman!” Virgil stood up with the intention of following him to find out what happened but a tentacle grabbed his hoodie and pulled him back down.

“Leave him be, emo, I think he needs to be alone for a minute.” Remus stated, his tone laced with something dangerously close to concern. His own words made him pause for a second and then, more quietly: “I cannot believe I just said that. I am worried about my brother. What the fuck.”

“But-” Virgil started, struggling to get the tentacle off of him.

“I do have to agree with Remus, Virgil.” Logan interrupted, “Roman seemed way too upset, so going to try and talk to him now might be counterproductive. Being seen in such a vulnerable state when he doesn't want to could cause him to lash out without meaning to, which, if he does for some reason actually believe he has become “The evil twin”-no offence, Remus-”

“None taken.”

“-will only make him feel worse” Logan concluded.

Virgil looked like he wanted to argue but after a couple of seconds he just threw his hands up in surrender and frustration, “ _FINE!_ You win, I will wait. Now let go of my hoodie before your disgusting tentacles ruin it.”

Remus briefly considered to hold on tighter and maybe rub more tentacles on the emo’s hoodie just to piss Virgil off, but he ended up deciding against it: If he tried that the emo would probably go feral and try to tear his tentacles off of him on by one in bloody revenge and ,while that certainly could be fun, he was ,surprisingly, enjoying talking with these two and didn't want to end their little get together in such a gorey way (Not yet, anyways). 

He let go.

Virgil glumpily swiped imaginary slime off his hoodie and grabbed a cookie, stuffing it in his mouth angrily. Remus looked at him amused, and he was about to start mocking the emo for throwing a fit like a little baby when Patton popped up.

The moral side looked tired, his entire being radiating an aura of bone-deep exhaustion, the type that was both physical and mental and left one completely drained, and yet, his face still had the ghost of a smile on it. His state might have been nothing compared to the wreck Roman had been when he popped up, but he clearly wasn't fine either.

When Patton’s eyes landed on Remus, still comfortably sitting on the sofa with Logan and Virgil, he stiffened up and blinked slowly, like he was unsure of what he was seeing.

“Um, hi everyone.” He greeted awkwardly. He paused for a second, still looking at Remus with clear confusion, “Uh, Remus, kiddo, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way but, um, what are you doing, um, _here_?”

“Oh, don't worry! Nothing you could say to me would ever be able to offend me!” Remus waved Patton’s concern away gleefully, “I was just having a relaxing tea with these two dorks after Virgil’s mental breakdown!” Remus explained and the emo choked on his cookie.

“Virgil’s _what_ now?” Patton asked as the remains off his smile fell and he grew serious.

“Nothing Pat, don’t worry, I’m fine, I promise” Virgil said, trying to stop the moral side’s fretting before it began. “I was a bit anxious about something and Logan and Remus helped me calm down.” He explained calmly.

“Oh, that's just a load of bullshit: He was _this_ close to having a panic attack because he thought-” Remus started, and he wasn't _ACTUALLY_ going to tell Patton the real reason Virgil freaked out, even if he thought that the moral side would do nothing but love and support the emo for _“Growing”_ and _“Changing his ways”_ and other disgusting stuff if he found out the truth, but Virgil interrupted him anyways.

“Remus, _I swear to God_ , I **will** gouge your eyes out with a teaspoon if you don't shut up. Do not test me” Virgil hissed.

“Ooh, _kinky~_ ” He replied without missing a beat and beaming.

“Oh, you _mother-_ ”

“Patton, I promise Virgil is fine now and there is no need to worry about it anymore.” Logan interjected before the fight could escalate.

“Are you sure?” Patton asked, still looking troubled.

“ _Positive._ ” Logan said in a tone that screamed _stop asking_. Patton seemed to get the hint.

“Okay then…”Patton said, still unsure but deciding to back off for now. “Well, you kiddos have fun with your tea party, I have to go check on Roman, we had a little scuffle out there and he was very upset before sinking out.”

“Pardon me, Patton, but do you think that going to check on him right now is a good idea?” Logan asked, a tad concerned.

“What do you mean if I think it is a good idea? I will not leave him alone when he is upset!” Patton said, looking slightly offended at the suggestion.

“He means you look like shit.”

“ _Remus!_ ” Virgil hissed.

“ _What?!_ He does! Even I can tell he is not fine! He can’t help anyone if he is about to have a breakdown himself!” Remus argued.

“I actually meant-” Logan started, but Patton’s sigh interrupted him.

“Yeah, I know, but after what happened in the video, I can’t help but worry about him.” Patton explained, tired. 

The three sides that sat in the sofa looked at Patton surprised at his confession for a second and then at each other, seeming to come to a silent agreement. 

“I did not meant that you shouldn’t check on Roman, Patton.” Logan started, his voice oddly soft. “I meant that I think it would benefit both of you to take a moment to breathe and calm down separately before starting what, I can only assume, will be an emotionally taxing discussion.”

Patton nodded, seemingly resigned. Remus summoned a mug, it’s green exterior was chipped in some areas and it’s handle was broken, but it was clean and could keep what you poured inside warm.

“Would you want some tea?” He offered cheerfully. 

“Yeah, a warm drink would be nice right now, thank you” Patton said, the ghost of a smile back in his face and his eyes soft.


End file.
